NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Sep 16, 2014) - Marketing to consumers through traditional media channels has become a challenge in the 21st Century. Consumers use DVRs to skip through TV advertising; print advertising is proving increasingly ineffective as the declining pages in any magazine will tell you; online banners and buttons have become practically invisible or technologically blocked by savvy web surfers. But as the technological shift weakens old marketing models, it also has created an effective and potentially even more powerful tool for reaching consumers -- content marketing. It is a phrase that can seem a little nebulous but it is ultimately about "owning" the media rather than "renting" the media. It is about creating content distributed in numerous ways and tailored to each channel, whether it is social media, e-newsletters, videos, blogs or the like. And it is essential to have a well thought out content marketing strategy, which is where the experts of ICMediaDirect.com (ICMD) can help.

ICMediaDirect.com, a full service PR and marketing agency, rose to prominence through the business of reputation management, which is the strategic, intentional control of Google search results to create the desired impression for a client. In this way they are "holistic storytellers," talented in the art of communication through multiple media and the application of Internet technology. The overall objective is to deliver information that makes a consumer smarter, turning the content into something valuable or entertaining for the consumer rather than an easy-to-ignore old style sales pitch. Strategic content marketing means adapting each marketing form into a valuable piece of content. Applying it to PR may mean press releases that address issues readers care about rather than a hyped sales pitch. In the social media sphere it can mean generating humorous or interesting posts, not merely sales messages, or creating easily shared infographics. With such an enormous range of options, it becomes clear that most businesses would do best to retain the services of a professional content marketing agency like ICMediaDirect.

Every year the Content Marketing Institute conducts a survey to assess the marketing landscape. The results are enlightening and should serve as a guide for any business considering content marketing. 84% of marketers who say they are ineffective at content marketing also said they have no documented strategy. 58% of marketers plan to increase their content marketing budget over the next year, while 73% said they are producing more content now compared to a year ago. What this ultimately means is that if a business is not thinking strategically about its content marketing strategy, their competitors certainly are.

Founded in 1996, ICMediaDirect.com has over 18 years experience in traditional and online marketing services, serving as a full-service PR and marketing agency with a worldwide client base. They are experts in reputation management, with a client roster that includes Fortune-500 CEOs, athletes, politicians, executive level bankers, and top motivational speakers in 49 countries and speaking 49 languages. Some well-known personalities include music agent Cara Lewis, who represents Eminem, Kanye West, 50 Cent, Rihanna, and Australian Olympic gold medal skier Dale Begg-Smith.